Luxembourg,November23,2016

PressRelease

LU-CIX3.0NewcooperationsforawinningfutureSince2009LU-CIXhasorganised9majorindustryevents,butthe3rdeditionofthe“LuxembourgInternetDays”conferencewhichtookplaceattheLuxembourgChamberofCommerceon22and23Novemberwasparticularlyrichincontentandnewannouncements.Thisyear,exhibitorregistrationshadtoclose inOctoberduetoover-subscription.Thisyear’seditionhasthushitallrecordswithmorethan1000participantsfromover400localandinternationalcompanies.In addition to the conference workshops, plenary sessions and exhibition, several exciting LU-CIXpartnerships involving the House of Training, the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce as well as theGovernmentwereannouncedduringtheevent.Marco Houwen, Chairman of Internet industry association and event organiser LU-CIX, presented anoverviewoftherapidrateofprogress:“12monthsagoatthisevent,atthisvenue,weannouncedLU-CIX2.0andourintentiontocreateanultra-highspeed100GbpsInternetnodebackboneincollaborationwiththeFoundationRESTENA.Asoflastweekthatnewbackbonehasgonelive,and90%ofourmembershasbeenalreadymigratetoit.Sowecansay<JobDone!>.TodayIamannouncingforthefirsttimethenextphaseinourstrategy…TheWinningFuture…LU-CIX3.0…whichisconstructedonthesolidfoundationstonesofLU-CIX2.0and,asyouwilldiscovershortly, revolves around three exciting new partnerships, and our recently announced industry digitalmarketingplatform,datacenters-in-europe.com.”He further announced an increase in LU-CIXmembership to a 62 companies beforewelcoming the newpartnershipwiththeHouseofTrainingwhichwillgreatlyenhanceskillbuildinginthesectorthroughajointoffering of tailor-made technical Internet trainings offered either by LU-CIX members or internationalindustryorganisationssuchasRIPE.Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, stressed the increasingimportanceoftheLuxembourgInternetdaysintheeraofdigitalisation,aperiodofunprecedentedchangeand countless newbusiness opportunities. The Chamber of Commerce is looking forward to accompanyandguidenewentrepreneursintheirfuturebusinessprocess.Yet,hepointedoutthatitisnotjustaboutbusiness, it is also about triggering a new growthmodel for Luxembourg.Many innovative ideas in thiscontextwereadvancedatthepresentationoftheThirdIndustrialRevolutionstrategyattheLuxembourgSustainability Forum 2016. Eventually, Carlo Thelen also raised the issue of Internet security andperformance,enhancedbyLU-CIX’contributiontokeepInternettrafficwithinnationalborders.LU-CIXhasthusbecomeanimportantplayerinLuxembourg’sInternetsecurityeco-systemandavaluablepromotionaltoolthatisoftenusedontrademissionstoattractnewheadquarterstotheGrandDuchy.

Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg PrimeMinister and Minister for Communications andMedia said during hiskeynote:“Last year I promised if itsmembers invested in LU-CIX, then sowould thegovernment. Theykept theirpromise,andnowIamdelightedtodemonstratethatIwillkeepminetoobysigningtodayanagreementwithLU-CIXasbl.”.TheagreementtakestheformofafinancialsupportoveraperiodofsixyearsinreturnforacommitmentonqualityofservicetobesuppliedbyLU-CIX.Morespecifically,LU-CIXhascommittedtoofferitsservicesto Internet service providers using the national Internet exchange infrastructure, which has becomestrategicforthenationaleconomy.PrimeMinisterBettelalsohighlightedtheclosefitbetweenthegovernment’sDigitalLëtzebuerginitiative,the LU-CIX 2.0 100 Gbps ultra-high speed backbone and the industry leading promotional and businessdevelopmentcapabilitiesofLU-CIX3.0’sdatacenters-in-europe.comand“TheWinningFuture”underliningthat“withoutdoubttheseinitiativessignificantlyenhancetheglobalpresenceofLuxembourgasanultra-highspeedultra-lowlatencyInternetexchangeandICThub”The conference covered two of the hottest ICT topics of the year: The Internet of Things (IoT) andBlockchain, with a series of 22 presentations and 6 round table discussions ranging from specialist skillshortage to the future of Blockchain. This year’s keynote speakers were Xavier Bettel, LuxembourgMinisterforLabour,Employment,SocialEconomyandEconomicSolidarity,NicolasSchmitandCarloThelenaswellassomeofthemostinfluentialICTexpertsandentrepreneursfrom9countriesonbothsidesoftheAtlantic including Candi Carrera,Microsoft CountryManager for Luxembourg, Reinhard Posch, AustrianGovernmentCIO,ÉireannLeverett,founderandCEOofConcinnityRisks,ChrisMarcilla,founderandCEOoftheFintechVirtualCurrenciesandWorkingGroupinLuxembourg,JohnMcLEAN,VPGlobalBlockchainLabsengagementatIBMandJoeLUBIN,founderofConsensys.Another highlight: Luxinnovation conducted two days of workshops dedicated to start-up companies orindividualswithasoundbusiness ideaseekingexpertguidanceabouthowtocommercialise these ideas.Open to everyone, this format has proven highly successful and resulted in a constructive exchange ofviewsandexperience.The 2016 edition of Luxembourg Internet Days has broken all records, be it with regards toannouncements, content, exhibitors or attendees. LU-CIX would like to thank each and every personinvolved for their support, and hopes to continue building a strong relationship. The 4th LuxembourgInternetDayswilltakeplaceon14&15November2017.For further informationabout theevent itselfor LU-CIX3.0,datacenters-in-europe.comor “TheWinningFuture”,pleasecontact event@lu-cix.lu orvisitourwebsitewww.lu-cix.luordatacenters-in-europe.com

AboutLU-CIX

LU-CIX(LUxembourgCommercialInterneteXchange)wasfoundedin2009asacross-industryinitiativesetup by major national and international Internet players with the aim of developing the Internet inLuxembourg.TheLU-CIXopenandneutralplatformmodelallowscompaniesgenerating IP traffic toandfromLuxembourgtofindreliabletechnicalmeansandtoolstobringtheirtraffictoInternetusersaroundtheworld. It is at LU-CIX that contentmeets people. In allowing Internet service providers to exchangeInternet traffic between their networks, LU-CIX connects content providers and international InternetoperatorslocatedinLuxembourgdirectlyandseamlessly.